Proud

 

I’m proud of myself. 

I have successfully scheduled to use up all of my credits at Massage Envy 

So I can cancel my membership! 

 

When I joined Massage Envy, 

I was living in Columbia, SC, 

Where a franchise location was convenient. 

The membership fee was also less while  

My salary was more. 

 

While in SC, I faithfully received my monthly massages and easily used up my credits. 

Then I moved home. 

To Harnett County. 

Where a franchise location is not convenient. 

 

For awhile, 

I was able to keep up with my massages

Because I was driving to Raleigh for therapy with Joe the Counselor. 

I called it therapy night. 

I would first see Joe for mental therapy, 

And then I would go to Massage Envy for body therapy. 

 

Then life happened. 

And Covid hit. 

And I stopped going to see Joe in person. 

And my massages started accruing. 

 

At one point, I had 27 credits! 

If I would have cancelled my membership, 

Then I would have lost all of those credits and a lot of money. 

 

So I went into action. 

I gave away as many massages as I could. 

And I went on in the freeze plus program, 

Where you pay a discounted rate to keep your membership without accruing more massages. 

I scheduled massages every week possible and I even got facials! 

 

And now, 

If all goes as planned in January,

I am out from under my membership 

And I can cancel without losing money. 

 

So I am proud of myself. 

I have worked hard to accomplish a daunting goal of luxury. 

 

In addition to the membership, 

I have spent way too much money on gas and tips,

But I have done it.

 

And so I celebrate 

This small victory at the end of 2024 

And I hope to be a better steward of my money in 2025. 

 

What about you?

What small, or large, victory can you celebrate at the end of 2024? 

And what do you hope for 2025? 

 

Whatever it is, 

Even if it’s just surviving,

I celebrate and hope with you 

Because we’re on this journey together, friend,

And goodness abounds. 

 

Amen. 

Peace

 

In 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the lyrics to the carol, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day,” after his son was injured in the Civil War and his wife died when her dress caught fire. Walking down the street on a cold winter’s day, Longfellow heard Christmas bells begin to play…and he penned this poem:

 

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

 

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

 

And in despair I bowed my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

 

Till, ringing singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!”

 

I don’t know about you, but I get it when Longfellow writes,

“And in despair I bowed my head:

‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,

‘For hate is strong and mocks the song,

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

 

And I get it when he writes,

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

 

I get the journey from joy to despair and back again.

I understand walking through heartache and grief,

Questioning everything I’ve known to be true,

But deciding, in the end, to rest upon peace.

 

Friends: Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of Love.

And even when life is difficult—

Political upheaval, wars raging, people dying, children suffering—

Love, God’s love, is there.

 

Amen.

Regardless

 

A decade ago, my dad read something that profoundly impacted my life:

“I love you regardless of how well you’re performing.”

That one statement worked its way into my consciousness

As a statement

From God to me,

From me to God,

From me to myself,

From me to those I love,

And from me to those I struggle even to like.

It became a prayer that I prayed over the people in my life—

a mantra that I repeated until negative thoughts began to turn positive and

All I remembered was that we’re all human and walking this journey together.

 

Sometimes loving people regardless of how well they’re performing is challenging—

Especially around the holidays.

Sometimes we want people to be more vulnerable than they are.

Sometimes we want them to be more outgoing or friendly than they are.

Sometimes we want people to be more capable than they are.

Sometimes we want them to be more giving than they are.

We don’t mean to do it.

But sometimes we want people to be who they are not.

Which is not fair to them…or us.  

 

Oh God,

This Holiday Season and beyond,

Help us to love people for who they really are

Instead of who we want them to be.

Help us to see people as your good creation

Instead of who we have made them to be.

And help us, God, daily to

Remember, say, and believe,

In all its many forms,

“I love you

Regardless of how well you’re performing,”

Until we truly believe it and live it

In all that we say and do.

 

Amen.

My Sister's Birthday

 

Today is my sister‘s birthday.

A few weeks ago,

I posted a note about quotes that have made an impact on me.

My brother got two quotes, but Dana did not get any.

She joked with me about that,

And I felt bad about not including her, 

But then I started thinking about it, 

And I realized that when I think of Dana,

I don’t think so much about specific words,

Rather, I think about a life lived to the fullest.

 

Dana is happy soul.

She loves to entertain and throw a good party.

She and her husband open their home many times a year for gatherings and get togethers 

That bring together people from across all walks of life.

There is always food, fellowship, and laughter 

And a sense of community that comes only from someone like Dana who genuinely cares for and sees the best in people.  

 

On one hand,

Dana lives spontaneously,

Always remaining open to the moment and 

To seeing what goodness can be pulled from it. 

On the other hand, 

Dana is the party planner mentioned above,

A webpage designer and administrator,

And a communications guru for topics from education to politics to the Raleigh Recorder Society. 

Yes, recorders.

The little instruments that you most often think of as torturing music teachers and elementary parents across the country.

My sister is a recorder expert,

And she makes the instrument enjoyable to hear. 

 

Dana is also a proud beekeeper and honey producer

Who will talk about bees with and provide a honey tasting for anyone interested.

One of my favorite images of Dana is of her being late for a family function because bees were swarming. 

I don’t remember the details of the story. 

All I know is that it captures my sister perfectly: 

Living in the moment with a fluid sense of time

While passionately caring for others, 

Or in this case, bees! 

 

So join me in wishing my sister, Dana,

Whose very life encourages me 

Even when a specific quote does not, 

A very Happy Birthday! 

 

Dana: You are loved!

And seen. 

And valued.

Today and every day. 

Happy birthday!

Failed Christmas Presents

It’s no secret that one of my favorite things is gem mining. 

I love the process of sorting through dirt and discovering small treasures. 

Over the years, I’ve collected and given a lot of unpolished gems

And a few years ago, I gave away gems that I had polished in my rock tumbler. 

But it wasn’t until this year that I actually paid to have gems cut, professionally polished, and turned into jewelry. 

 

At the time of this year’s mining, 

Having the stones set for the three people I was with seemed like a great idea! 

“These will make great birthday and Christmas presents,” I thought. 

“And they will be something they can keep forever.”

I was super excited! 

I even came home and ordered silver chains to go with the pendants. 

 

But then reality set in a couple of weeks ago: 

Nice jewelry isn’t at the top of a 3rd and a 7th graders’ gift lists .  

Their mama’s? Yes! 

Theirs? No. 

 

Nevertheless, I persisted 

And presented the girls with sapphire and aquamarine necklaces, 

Cut and polished from stones that we had found together on our spontaneous summer getaway away. 

 

Ideally, the girls would have loved their necklaces. 

In reality, they were disappointed in this year’s Christmas gifts.

Last year, I scored big with a Stanley cup and a life-sized teddy bear. 

This year, I got demerits for fancy jewelry . 

 

Don’t get me wrong. 

The girls are not ungrateful brats. 

They will come to appreciate the value of their gifts in due time. 

But for now,

They are just kids. 

And I temporarily forgot that kids like trends and toys more than sentimental necklaces . 

 

So, if you’re like me, 

Then this holiday season will be filled with both joys and disappointments. 

You will both fail and succeed in your gift giving 

And you will be both genuinely happy and pretendedly happy in your gift receiving. 

 

Through it all, though,

Just remember this:

If your heart is in the right place, 

Then that is what matters. 

It’s not about money. 

It’s not about scoring big. 

It’s about giving and receiving love, 

Even when the tangible gift is not fully appreciated in return. 

 

I drove home from my failed gift giving smiling. 

I gave the girls a gift they get to grow into. 

It’s not trendy. 

It’s not a toy. 

It’s a little piece of my heart, 

Of something that I hold dear, 

And I have no regrets…

Except maybe I should have thrown in some baseball cards and Jellycats . 

Tears As Baptism

For the past year, 

I’ve been taking a course through the Lutheran Chruch to become certified as a lay preacher.

I’ve taken an Old Testament course, a New Testament course, and a theology course. 

I’m currently in a preaching course.

 

One of our assignments for the preaching course was to write a sermon for Bof our Lord Sunday on January 12, 2025.

I decided that instead of waiting until the last minute, I would go on and write the sermon.

I finished the sermon last week.

 

I enjoyed the process of studying and reading and preparing for the message.

I also enjoyed remembering my baptism.

 

Baptism is a complicated topic:

Infant versus believer’s baptism;

Sprinkling baptism versus baptism by immersion;

Still water versus running water;

John’s baptism versus Jesus‘s baptism--

Those are just a few of the things that I read about in the process of writing my sermon.

The scholarly articles debating the merits of each are vast and wide, 

So I finally had to stop reading and just write. 

 

One of the things that didn’t make it into the sermon but that made an impression on me

Was the idea of tears being a way of remembering our baptism.

Tears—

Those little drops of water that come when we are hurt, upset, angry, or sad.

Tears—

Those little drops of water that come when we’re overly happy or joyful.

Tears—

The natural expulsion of emotion.

Tears—

A catharsis of everything we hold inside.

Tears—

Water running down our faces,

Reminding us of our baptism:

Of being held in God’s arms,

As God’s beloved,

In whom God is well-pleased.

Tears—

Water running down our faces,

Reminding us of our baptism:

Of being saved from the mess of ourselves

And cleansed into the wholeness of Christ.

 

So the next time you cry,

For joy or sorrow or allergy,

Remember your baptism.

Remember your place in God’s Kingdom.

Remember what God has done for you through

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Remember that your faith is by grace alone,

And remember that,

Through it all,

You are God’s beloved,

In whom God is well-pleased.

Always.

 

Amen.

Common Courtesy

 

I went to Amelia The Niece’s choir concert on Friday night and watched something frustratingly funny happen. 

 

The concert was in a church sanctuary, so the audience was sitting on pews. 

My family and I were sitting about halfway back. 

 

Proper concert etiquette for a choral concert, 

or any non-rock band live music concert really, 

is to arrive on time, 

to sit quietly and listen, 

to only enter and exit during applause if you must leave for some reason, 

to turn your phone to silent, 

and not to film. 

Some performance programs specifically request that you do not film due to copyright infringement 

While other performance programs do not mention this request. 

But still, it’s courteous to the people behind you not to film during the concert. 

Holding your camera up obstructs people’s view and accidentally encourages people to look through your camera instead of at the actual performers. 

 

We just so happened to end up sitting three and four rows behind two different families who did not follow proper filming concert etiquette.

 

Each time their children sang,

They held up their phones and recorded the entire song.

 

What was frustratingly funny was that at the end of the concert, all groups sang together.

So both camera families needed to film.

The family on the third row up got annoyed with the family on the fourth row up and moved to the right so that their view would not be obstructed.

They then held up their camera and obstructed the view of the people newly behind them.

I couldn’t help but think of how inconsiderate that was,

To do the exact thing that was annoying them in the first place.

 

We live in a society that encourages us to put our own needs first. 

Maybe we should live counter-culturally 

And consider how we can be courteous to those around us while also taking care of our own needs.

 

In this instance:

Film a few seconds. 

Sit on the outside aisle so that your camera is not in the middle aisle.

Snap a picture during the applause.

Remember the performance in your brain rather than trying to keep everything on your phone.

How often do we go back and watch our videos anyway?

 

It’s little things, really,

That show courtesy:

Holding the door for the customer behind you,

Being ready to go through the ATM before you drive up to the machine,

Asking the person behind you if it’s OK to recline your seat a little on the plane,

Not singing along in the movie theater even though you really want to sing along.

 

May we be a people of courtesy that’s not so common anymore 

And may we not do to others the exact same things that annoy us. 

 

Amen.